jazz (music)

jazz (music)
Name	Jazz
Cultural origins	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States; late 19th–early 20th century
Instruments	Trumpet, Saxophone, Trombone, Piano, Double bass, Drum kit, Clarinet, Guitar
Subgenres	Ragtime, Dixieland, Swing (music), Bebop, Cool jazz, Hard bop, Modal jazz, Free jazz, Fusion (music), Smooth jazz

jazz (music) Jazz is a musical tradition that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, synthesizing elements from African American spirituals, blues, and European musical practices. It is characterized by improvisation, rhythmic complexity, and distinctive approaches to harmony and timbre that influenced and intersected with artists and institutions across Harlem, Chicago, Kansas City, Paris, and beyond. Major venues, record labels, and festivals helped propel jazz into international prominence, shaping modern music and culture globally.

Origins and Early History

Jazz developed from interrelated traditions including ragtime, blues, brass band music, and the performance cultures of African American communities in New Orleans. Early practitioners performed in venues such as Storyville (New Orleans district), on riverboats operated by companies like the Mississippi River steamboats, and in urban nightclubs across Chicago and New York City. Figures associated with formative recordings and ensembles include Buddy Bolden (credited in oral histories), Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and ensembles led by Original Dixieland Jass Band which made some of the first commercial recordings. Technological changes driven by companies like Victor Talking Machine Company and labels such as Columbia Records and RCA Victor expanded dissemination, while migration patterns during the Great Migration redistributed musicians and stylistic practices to Northern cities.

Musical Characteristics and Forms

Jazz frequently employs improvisation over chord progressions, collective polyphony, syncopation, swing feel, and call-and-response phrasing evident in performances by ensembles from small combos to big bands. Harmonic language often features extended tertian chords, substitutions, and modal frameworks used by artists associated with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk. Forms include 12-bar blues structures, 32-bar AABA popular song forms associated with composers like George Gershwin and Cole Porter, and through-composed or open forms found in avant-garde settings led by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. Rhythm sections—featuring instruments such as the drum kit, double bass, and piano—provide timekeeping, comping, and metric displacement techniques used by practitioners including Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Billie Holiday accompanists.

Styles and Subgenres

Jazz diversified into numerous styles: early Dixieland ensembles emphasized collective improvisation; Swing (music) era big bands led by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman prioritized arranged charts for dance halls; Bebop innovators such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie foregrounded virtuosic soloing and complex harmony. Subsequent movements included Cool jazz exemplified by Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan, Hard bop with leaders like Horace Silver and Art Blakey, Modal jazz associated with Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Free jazz advanced by Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler, and Fusion (music) combining jazz with rock aesthetics via artists like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Weather Report. Contemporary offshoots incorporate Afro-Cuban jazz from figures like Machito and Dizzy Gillespie, Latin jazz practitioners such as Tito Puente, and modern intersections with hip hop artists including A Tribe Called Quest collaborators.

Key Figures and Influential Recordings

Seminal performers and recordings include Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, Duke Ellington’s extended compositions performed at venues like Harlem Renaissance salons, Charlie Parker’s bebop records for Savoy Records, Miles Davis’s albums including milestone sessions documented on Columbia Records, John Coltrane’s recordings such as those associated with Impulse! Records, and vocal milestones by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. Other influential figures encompass Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Nina Simone, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and Pat Metheny. Landmark recordings and events—such as sessions produced by Blue Note Records, performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, and trophies like the Grammy Awards—shaped critical reception and canonical status.

Cultural Impact and Social Context

Jazz has been tied to movements and institutions including the Harlem Renaissance, civil rights-era events, and cultural diplomacy programs organized by agencies like the United States Department of State through touring ensembles. It intersected with literary figures such as Langston Hughes and visual artists associated with Bauhaus-influenced modernism in transatlantic exchanges centered on cities like Paris and Berlin. Jazz's club cultures, recording industries, union organizations like the American Federation of Musicians, and educational programs at institutions such as Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music contributed to professionalization and pedagogy. Debates about authorship, appropriation, and race involved public figures and institutions, while festivals and broadcasting outlets including BBC and National Public Radio disseminated jazz to wider audiences.

Globalization and Contemporary Developments

From mid-20th-century tours by ensembles sent on cultural missions to modern digital platforms, jazz circulated globally and fused with regional traditions in places like Brazil (bossa nova), Cuba (Afro-Cuban jazz), Japan, South Africa, and France. Contemporary scenes feature cross-disciplinary collaborations with electronic musicians, producers on labels such as ECM Records and Impulse! Records, and artists experimenting with hybrid forms—examples include collaborations involving Kamasi Washington, Esperanza Spalding, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Robert Glasper. Academic programs, archival projects, and festivals in cities like Montreux, Monterey, and North Sea Jazz Festival sustain performance and scholarship, while streaming services and social media platforms shape consumption and discovery in the 21st century.

Category:Music genres